Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
March 25, 2011
To see the readings, click here:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/032511.shtml
It feels odd, here in our Lenten preparations for Easter, to hear of Mary learning that she is pregnant with the baby Jesus. But that's how it is, so of course, we will work with it.
Before I get to the gospel, which is the part of the readings that most spoke to me, I have to comment on the Isaiah reading. Specifically, I just love the line where Isaiah says "Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God?" That just sounds so quintessentially Jewish to me! It convinces me as much as all the teaching of my lifetime that this is true scripture, handed down through generations.
But moving on to the gospel lesson. In it Mary gets the visit from the angel telling her that she will bear the baby Jesus, and he the Lord will give him a throne and he will reign forever. Of course, the angel didn't include the whole dying on the cross part, but I suppose the shock it delivered was enough without going into all that. I wasn't raised Catholic, and as a protestant it was always a little hard to understand how much Catholics revere Mary. Since I have been Catholic I have learned about the rich body of tradition that grew up in her honor. But this is certainly the main passage that helps understand where those traditions found their roots.
I can't imagine myself or any woman I know responding to this message the way Mary did. It's a lot easier to imagine a response of "Yeah, right!" or worse. Possibly some aspersions on the sobriety of the messenger, or accusations of a bad joke. And as it became obvious that this was actually to be her fate, I would imagine anger, bargaining -- basically all the phases of grief. But definitely NOT "I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word."
But all joking aside, I guess that should be our response to a lot of things, a lot more often. "Let it be done to me according to your word." When we lose a job or get the short end of the stick at work: "Let it be done to me according to your word." When a loved one is fighting a potentially terminal illness:
"Let it be done to me according to your word." When called upon to do dirty work, to inconvenience ourselves, to give until it hurts: "Let it be done to me according to your word."
And the thing is, I suspect that if we just said that, and meant it, of course, then God would provide us all the strength we needed for whatever was before us. I speak not from my own experience -- I'm not that far along my spiritual journey -- but on what I've observed from watching some of my friends as they deal with adversity. I have seen someone come to acceptance that her beautiful child will never be an adult and she must watch her pass moment by moment; another accept that her lovely daughter died of a disease no one thinks can be terminal and that now she will be raising her two grandchildren; another who still considered himself in the prime of his life slowly accept that he would never have meaningful employment again and turn to fulltime volunteering. It is amazing to me that a person can take a blow like those and keep on ticking at all. Yet I have seen people not only keep on going, but do so with grace and poise and acceptance and humor and compassion. All of which I think came from outside themselves, when they humbled themselves to accept whatever was coming their way.
I have never been particularly good at accepting. At times in my life I have thought this was a good thing -- that my strength came from my unwillingness to admit defeat, my tendency to always fight on. And in some circumstances I think that is a strength. More recently, as life has dealt me some adversity, I have tried to learn to accept with humility. But sometimes I think I am not accepting as much as I am repressing -- just stuffing down the urge to fight, the need to scream, the instinct to lash out. When I look at those people whom I admire, who have dealt with those huge losses with grace and compassion, I don't get the sense that they are repressing anything. I get the impression that they have truly given up control and in its place, they have found the ultimate source of strength and peace. I pray that someday, I may be so blessed.
Father, thank you for the model of Mary and more recently, of the people you put in my life. Please guide me and help me to find some portion of their grace and submission. Help me to understand when you want me to be strong and when you want me to be submissive. Father, again as every day, I pray for all those in my life who have such huge needs: those who are ill, whose loved ones are ill, whose lives are bringing new challenges, who need work. Please pour out your spirit and heal us all. I continue to lift up all those who are sharing this Lenten journey with me. Please help us each to find the right path you have in mind and when we do let us, like Mary, say "Let it be done to me according to your word." Amen
